A Court of Love and Healing {ACOTAR}

Problems and Pet-Names

Elain feels a tug on the mate bond and a grin spreads across her face. She rushes out to the porch of the River House and sees Lucien walking up the path.

"Lucien!", she squeals, running to him, holding the skirt of her dress. His face lights up and he catches her in his arms, spinning her around. "Elain, my pretty doe. I missed you."

"I missed you too", she smiles, cupping his face before kissing him soundly. "How were your travels?"

His face falls a bit, and he sighs. "Enlightening. But not in the best way. Tamlin confirmed what we thought about Eris. I don't know how I knew that he would know but...", he trails off, his gaze to the ground.

She tips his chin to look at her and kisses him again softly. "I'm so sorry that you feel betrayed. I-I never wanted that. But there is an upside to this too, my fox."

Lucien links arms with her and walks towards the River House. "That's the thing about you, Elain. You always have something positive to say. Especially when I need to hear it. So what, per se, is the upside of this predicament?"

She leans her head on his shoulder softly. "Well, you know now that your brother isn't inherently bad like Beron. He's only been pretending to keep you safe. I know that finding out that he lied hurts you and everything that you thought you had against him has been stripped away. But how is that not also a good thing? You have one brother who isn't a horrible person and only pretends to be to save your life and his own."

He heaves a heavy sigh and turns to kiss her temple, unwinding his arm from hers and wrapping it around her waist. "I—suppose. Of course, you have a point. You usually do. I love you, and I'm sorry if I come off as cranky."

"I love you too. And it's okay to feel hurt. It's okay to have bad days. You told me that before, and it's true for you too, Lucien. You're allowed to have bad days. I know you pride yourself on being even-keeled. But getting upset does not change you as a person. It's alright to get angry, or cry, or feel weak sometimes. You showed me that it was okay, and it's been helping me heal ever since. You're way too hard on yourself, trying to be perfect, Lu. You don't have to be perfect, even if I think you are", she smiles softly.

He scoffs and nuzzles her cheek playfully. "Thank you. You always made me feel better, Elain. It's incredible."

Elain smiles beautifully as they enter the house's foyer, Lucien's nose twitching at the scent.

She giggles and glances up the winding stairs. "Yeah, um...Rhys and Feyre have been a bit—busy over the weekend."

"Ugh."

"You look tired, why don't we go upstairs to my room and we can lay down for a while? You can tell me about everything, and I can braid your hair."

Lucien blushes slightly. As much as he would never admit it, he secretly loves his hair being played with and styled. Especially by his mate. "Alright. That sounds nice."

She grabs his hand and tugs him up the stairs to her bedroom. Not only is it Elain's favorite room of the house, but his as well. The large windows allow for the most sunshine to shine through. It's the first in the light when the sun comes up and the last lit when the sun goes down. Just the way that Elain—and Lucien—like it.

They lie down in her bed and he spoons her close, nuzzling her nose, the soft whirr of his eye the only noise between them aside from their breaths.

Elain strokes his cheek and over his scar gently. "Tell me...you look sad."

He sighs and leans his forehead on hers. "I don't usually get angry easily but Tamlin and I...we got in a big fight and I know I was the one who made it worse, and the fire inside of me only fueled my anger, and now that I'm calm I realize it wasn't necessary to get that heated but I was just so upset that he and my brother had gone behind my back for—for fucking centuries, to keep me in the dark about Eris's true nature. I suppose I always had a small hunch, but I didn't want to believe that he was good, because if I did, it would make it that much harder to...I don't know, to not miss my home, maybe. Not that I have a true home, I've been nearly everywhere."